Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)

by **Stef** Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:18 pm

1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast ( I like SAF brand)
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (approx)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Combine yeast, water and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer; let sit for 5 minutes or until frothy and bubbly.
Place the paddle attachment on the mixer, if using a stand mixer.
Add 3 cups of flour, mix. Add salt and another cup of flour, mix until combined.
At this point you should have added a total of four cups of flour. The recipe may take a little less, or a little more, depending on climate.
The dough should barely pull away from the sides of the bowl when it has the proper amount of flour added. Using the dough hook, knead for 4 minutes on low. Cover dough and let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled.
After the first rise, punch down dough with floured or greased hands, shape and place in a greased loaf pan.
Let rise again until doubled.
Preheat oven to 350, set rack in middle of oven.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove bread from oven.
Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove loaf and cool completely.

Tips:
-This recipe is easily doubled, I made two batches, side by side. I didn't want to crowd the mixing bowl, so the flour would mix in properly.
-If you use freshly ground wheat flour, you might need to add 5- 5 1/2 cups of flour.
-You may omit 1/2 cup of the flour and add 1/2 cup of seeds such as sunflower, flax, oats, etc.
-When mixing the bread, add the flour a little at a time to make sure the flour is mixed well into the dough. I used about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 cups total in my dry climate. If you live in a more humid climate, you may need to use less flour.
-It is important to let the dough mix properly in the bowl. I set the timer to make sure it has kneaded for four full minutes after all of the flour is added. You will be surprised at how long 4 minutes is, when you are mixing and have the timer set!
-30 minutes seems like a short bake time, but it turns out perfectly.
I used King Arthur 100% Whole Wheat Flour you can purchase at your local grocery, or purchase on Amazon, through this link.